This invention relates to a lighting system which enables elongate lengths of illumination to be provided for a wide range of decorative and other applications.
Linear lighting systems used hitherto have generally been in the form of extruded tubing of a resilient, translucent or transparent material, e.g. extruded plastics tubing. The tubing is illuminated by a series of bulbs connected together by electric wiring to form an elongate lighting string which is threaded through the tubing to provide an internal illumination means therefor. The tubular strip is then located where desired to provide an elongate lighting system for decorative or safety purposes. For example, a length of such illuminated tubing may be provided in a non-slip nosing across the front edges of the steps of a staircase. The lighting system may be used in flooring systems e.g. at a junction between different types of flooring or floor covering. It may be provided as a decorative embellishment e.g. on walls, or display systems, or along bar pelmets, wherever a decorative pencil-line of light is desired. When resilient tubing is used, the lighting system may follow non-linear paths, e.g. wound as a shallow spiral around columns or pillars.
However these previously known systems have certain technical and practical disadvantages. First of all, a length of the wiring incorporating the spaced apart illuminating elements does not provide a standard predictable length thereof owing to the flexibility of the wire connectors of the illuminating device which are soldered to the intermediate lengths of connecting wiring. Over a relatively long stretch there can be a very significant expansion or contraction of a supplied length of the illumination wiring resulting in a discrepancy with the length over which the illumination is required to extend. The illumination wiring which is usually stored on a roll, is relatively brittle owing to the soldered wire connectors associated with the illuminating devices, which are free to bend.
In practice, it is necessary to measure up on site the required extent of the linear illumination and then to order the required length which is cut by the supplier from a storage roll thereof. As stated above, the length when fitted on site may not match the requirement due to expansion or contraction of the supplied length. Moreover electrical connections have to be made on site, e.g. by soldering, to incorporate resistors in the system to control the voltage supplied to the illuminating devices, and to connect voltage supply lines, as well as to make any other necessary circuit connections.